Willis's Walkabouts Newsletter 109, September 2020 — Our Trips Are Running

WW 2020 Trips

We have only three trips left this year.

Money Back Guarantee. If any border restriction prevents someone from coming on a trip they booked, we will give them a 100% refund.

• Kakadu Birdwatching & Nature Special: 4-17 October
  Definite departure. List price: $2895. Much more than birds. This trip would suit anyone looking for a particularly leisurely trip, even if they are not 100% interested in birds.
  $600 discount. No other discount applies with this offer.
• Kakadu Highlights No. 10: 18-31 October
  List price: $2795. Three sections, any of which can be done on its own.
  $600 discount. No other discount applies with this offer.
• New Year in Kakadu: 27 December - 2 January
  List price: $1995. For the adventurous. We don't decide where we'll go until we know how much rain we've had. That's the only way we can guarantee you the best possible experience on those dates.
  Special offer. Our 20% advance purchase discount has been extended to 3 October.

There's More!

1. I will run either of the first two trips plus the third for as few as two people at no extra charge.
2. Our Facebook post on 2 September has a special discount offer which applies in addition to those above.

Return to top

China vs The World

Anyone living in Australia should be aware of how China is using things like their imports of Australian wine, barley and other things as a lever to get Australia to do what they want. If they had a good alternative source of iron ore (which they will have within a few years), they would be using that as well. Our economy is far too dependent on one country. Things are likely to get worse.

Globalisation has its problems. Falling well behind the curve: Australia ranks last in global self-sufficiency ranking. Dead last! Something is seriously wrong here.
"Australia is ranked last among its global peers of 'developed nations' when it comes to measuring a nation's manufacturing self-sufficiency, with struggling global supply chains dramatically hindering the nation's security and resilience."
"Australia's record period of economic stability and prosperity, buoyed by the immense mineral and resource wealth, combined with the benevolence of the post-Second World War political, economic and strategic order, is at an end — it's time to adjust accordingly."

Weaponising Water

China's neighbours have problems. Not much they can do about it.

• How China is Weaponising Water
  Interesting video, things I doubt most of you knew.
• China's weaponisation of water
  Times of India blog page, Indian view

Cyber

• Forget TikTok. China's Powerhouse App Is WeChat, and Its Power Is Sweeping. *
  A vital connection for the Chinese diaspora, the app has also become a global conduit of Chinese state propaganda, surveillance and intimidation. The United States has proposed banning it.
• China Presses Its Internet Censorship Efforts Across the Globe *
  Within its digital borders, China has long censored what its people read and say online. Now, it is increasingly going beyond its own online realms to police what people and companies are saying about it all over the world.
  To some extent, Google gives in. There is an alternative which doesn't.

Misc

• Xi's Post-Virus Economic Strategy for China Looks Inward *
  The Chinese leader's latest approach calls for a more robust domestic economy to insulate growth from tensions with the United States.
• With Hacks and Cameras, Beijing's Electronic Dragnet Closes on Hong Kong *
  Under a new national security law, the police are targeting the social media accounts of executives, politicians and activists. American internet giants are struggling to respond.
• Why Calls to Boycott 'Mulan' Over Concerns About China Are Growing *
  The latest backlash over Disney's remake of the movie centers on how it was partly filmed in Xinjiang, where Uighurs live under repression.
• What You Can No Longer Say in Hong Kong *
  A new law takes aim at dissent, creating a challenge to free expression. We documented the changing nature of speech.
• Trump's misleading information enables China to sow discord among allies, research finds
  New report calls on Australia and US to strengthen ability to counter others' disinformation — as well as their own.
• Fears for Volvo Expose Sour Turn in Sweden's Ties With China *
  "We know that Chinese companies are used by the Chinese government as a way to get information and serve as a base for influencing other countries," Mr. Wastberg, the former diplomat, said.
• The End of the American Order
  • Text of a speech by Ian Bremmer
  • Video of the same speech
    "China has made its decision. Beijing is building a separate system of Chinese technology—its own standards, infrastructure, and supply chains—to compete with the West. Make no mistake: this is the single most consequential geopolitical decision taken in the last three decades. It's also the greatest threat to globalization since the end of World War II."
    "As we look toward the future of relations among nations, there is one prediction we can make with certainty: No matter what happens in this year's US elections, no matter who is president or which party is in power, the American-led international order is finished. It is not coming back. But it's just as important to recognize that the aspirations that this order represents for many people remain."

Return to top

Covid Will Change The World

The world we were living in at the beginning of the year is not coming back. The new world can be better or worse than the old. I haven't heard any major politician suggest anything but more or less more of the same. Many of the stories which follow are from the US or other countries. I hope we can learn from what's happened elsewhere before it's too late.

The world that could be. Graham Lawton summed up the world kind of world I'd like in a New Scientist article. We can't rely on rampant consumerism to get us out of this mess
“One outcome of the lockdown may be to make us see that consumption isn't a route to happiness.”
It's less than two pages. If you look at only one link in this newsletter, make it this one.

In early April, I began a Covid Blog page. I've had updates at least weekly since the last newsletter. If you even a tiny bit interested in Covid news that's unlikely to make it on to the TV news, it's well worth a browse.

I've always thought that workers in Australia were better off than those in America. In at least one way, that is wrong. Economic reform prompted by pandemic must improve lives of all Australians, not just privileged few
Times will change. Click the link and scroll down the page. I was amazed to see that Australian workers get a smaller share of national income than workers in the US.

The Rich vs the Rest

• When It's This Easy at the Top, It's Harder for Everyone Else *
  America has always known haves and have-nots. But what was a tiered system is morphing into a caste system. "The richest 1 percent of Americans live nearly 15 years longer on average than the poorest 1 percent".
  This system is unstable. Australia hasn't gone as far as the US but we're moving in that direction.
• The recession is over for the rich, but the working class is far from recovered
  The stock market and home values are back at record levels, while jobs remain scarce for those earning less than $20 an hour.
• Muddling for Solutions
  "If mass unemployment characterized the Great Depression, mass under-employment characterizes today's economy. Millions don't earn the wages they need to live comfortably, or they aren't able to work in the field for which they feel qualified, or they fear losing their jobs, or they're otherwise discontented."
  "The inflation-adjusted wage gap between low-wage/low-hours jobs and high-wage/high-hours jobs widened almost fourfold between 1990 and 2018."
  "The simple fact is that the 'center' is shrinking. It is hard to consider compromises when positions are so hardened that no compromise is allowable. Whatever the reason for this (which is another debate), it prevents our political system from addressing important issues. This leaves an anxious population to feel either completely abandoned, or thinking it must align with one side or the other just to survive.
  Politicians in both parties exploit this division. They have realized they can win elections not by convincing voters their ideas have merit, but by whipping up emotions and raising their own base's turnout. This short-term thinking may help win the next election, but over time it destroys trust, divides people into warring camps, and—most critically—still leaves the nation's most important problems unsolved."
  People have to reach a point at which the pain of staying the same is worse than the pain of making a change. Only then will they take the hard steps.
• In Latin America, the Pandemic Threatens Equality Like Never Before *
  "Over the past two decades, inequality in Latin America had fallen to the lowest point in its recorded history. The pandemic threatens to reverse that. We travelled 1,000 miles across Colombia to document this critical moment."
  To a lesser extent, it's true in the developed world. Those who have the least get hurt the most.

Generational Divide

• Generational divide: Younger Australians are worse off than their parents were, index shows
  Inequality between generations in Australia is at a 20-year high, according to a report by the Actuaries Institute. The Institute contends this is because government spending favours the old and because asset prices have risen faster than incomes. The Institute states that current young people have better education, health and social outcomes than previous generations of young people, but worse economic, environmental and housing incomes. Policy options suggested by the Institute include boosting childcare subsidies and including a retiree's home in the Aged Pension asset test.
• Young Adults, Burdened With Debt, Are Now Facing an Economic Crisis *
  Young people who entered this financial downturn with fewer resources than previous generations are enduring pain.
• 'I Am the Portrait of Downward Mobility' *
  Today's 40-year-olds on the lives they've led, and now this.

How long will it be before the younger generations decide to take advantage of their numbers at the ballot box and vote for something that will shaft the oldies as much as we've shafted them?

Misc

• Bigger hauls, fewer choices: How the pandemic has changed our grocery shopping habits forever
  A permanent shift toward online shopping means less innovation, fewer new brands and, for some people who lack choices, reinforcement of unhealthy eating patterns
• The Service Economy Meltdown *
  As companies reconsider their long-term need to have employees on site, low-wage workers depending on office-based businesses stand to lose the most.

Coming Next Time

Covid has affected our health in ways that go far beyond the disease itself. It affects us in different ways but it does affect us all. I've been going through a variety of articles about the different ways this happens and will have a selection in the next Newsletter.

Return to top

Bushfires & More

As we head toward another bushfire season here in Australia, here are a number of things we ought to think about.

From the Americas — We Could Be Next

• 4 Years of Catastrophic Fires in California: 'I'm Numb' *
  For the eight million residents of the San Francisco Bay Area, a ring of fire across Northern California feels inescapable.
Wait a couple of months and this could be Australia
• Wildfires Hasten Another Climate Crisis: Homeowners Who Can't Get Insurance *
  Insurers, facing huge losses, have been pulling back from fire-prone areas across California. "The marketplace has largely collapsed," an advocate for counties in the state said.
  How long before the same thing happens in Australia?
• Brazil Fires Burn World's Largest Tropical Wetlands at 'Unprecedented' Scale *
  The blazes in Brazil, often intentionally set, have scorched a record-setting 10 percent of the Pantanal, one of the most biologically diverse habitats on the planet.
  If the Amazon goes, it will change the whole world's weather for the worse. Brazil itself will be among the worst hit but maybe other countries should consider the burning to be an act of war.

Australia

• As bushfire and holiday seasons converge, it may be time to say goodbye to the typical Australian summer holiday
  Maybe that's a good reason to go somewhere wet and green during the summer holidays.
• The Fires Are Out, but Australia's Climate Disasters Aren't Over *
  Devastating floods came soon after the bush fires. Scientists call it "compound extremes," as one catastrophe intensifies the next.
• Has Australia Reached a Climate Tipping Point? *
  After a summer of devastating fires, we need to ask ourselves hard questions about how we live.
• Australia's Fires Test Its Winning Growth Formula *
  The country's vulnerable environment and growing dependence on China have raised questions about the sustainability of its economic success.
• Not all weeds are villains. After a fire, some plants — even weeds — can be better than none
  Weeds can play an important role supporting ecosystem recovery after fire.

A Better Way

• Fighting fire with fire: Botswana adopts Indigenous Australians 'ancient burning tradition
  As the bushfire royal commission examines whether to expand the use of indigenous fire techniques, overseas countries are already on board
• This rainforest was once a grassland savanna maintained by Aboriginal people — until colonisation
  Two hundred years of forced dispossession cannot erase millennia of land ownership and connection to country.
• Reducing Fire, and Cutting Carbon Emissions, the Aboriginal Way *
  As blazes rage in southern Australia, Indigenous fire-prevention techniques that have sharply cut destructive bushfires in the north are drawing new attention.
• Fighting Fire With Fire
  "Passed on through the generations, could Indigenous cultural burning save Australia's landscape from another catastrophic bushfire season?
  "I've done burns all over the country and seen the improvements in landscapes and there are even places where the last wildfire went and didn't burn our cultural burn areas. The fires went out and went around them."
  A two minute introduction to the half hour program which follows.
• Fighting Fire With Fire I highly recommend this full half hour documentary.

There are answers but until our land managers forget about dates on the calendar and start using traditional knowledge, we are doomed to repeat the devastation of the past until there is nothing left to burn. If something doesn't change ....

The End of Australia as We Know It *
What many of us have witnessed this fire season feels alive and monstrous. With climate change forcing a relaxed country to stumble toward new ways of work, leisure and life, will politics follow?

Return to top

Beyond Google

An Alternative Search

• Meet the Startup Eyeing Google's Crown
  Scroll all the way to the comments at the end for some of the best reasons to use Duck Duck Go instead of Google. Here are two I really liked.
  • "Changed the selection of search engine on my iMac when Safari/Google started changing the order of found items from the Google reference criteria to advertising. Compounding this was the insertion of more and more selections generated by my prior search history and other unknown criteria. This had gotten to the point that the real search results started on the second page."
  • "Google search has long ago ceased being useful to me. For example I put in the name of a hotel I already know about. I get search results of which the first page + are links or ads to third party booking sites. Very inconvenient when I am looking for the hotel website. Similarly the different search results for different people. The same widely available information should be available to all seekers of it. I have been using duck duck go for a very long time. It's what google used to be."
  I now use it a fair bit and will increase that use further.
• Going over to the duck side: a week using DuckDuckGo
  Not all positive but realistic. To get a bit of privacy (and fewer ads) there are trade offs.

Another alternative is Ecosia, a CO₂ neutral search engine. "With every search made, the social business uses the revenue generated to go towards its tree-planting scheme." Here's a review with some of the pros and cons.

Big Tech Fighting Back

If you use Google, it's hard not to be aware of how they are fighting back against the Australian government proposal to require them to pay something for some of their news links. Facebook is the same. There are anti-trust proposals in the US that could see companies like Google and Facebook broken up. How May Google Fight an Antitrust Case? Look at This Little-Noticed Paper *
A document sent by the search giant to Australian regulators argues that the company doesn't control enough of the digital ad industry to overcharge customers or block competitors.

Powerful Person

The Most Powerful Unelected Man in the Western World *
The article called him the most powerful non-elected person in America. When I thought about it, I believe his power extends so far beyond America that no one else comes close. Can you guess who?

Return to top

News About This Newsletter

Restricted websites. The NY Times and Bloomberg Business Week both allow non-subscribers to look at ten free articles each month. I've got more links than that in this newsletter so I've marked them with a red asterisk (*) so that you can choose which are of most interest to you. The Washington Post and The Economist both have limits but I'm not sure what the current limits are so I've marked Washington Post (other than their free Covid coverage) and Economist articles with a double red asterisk (**).

Next Newsletter — October? November? I'll keep heading bush whenever I can. The more feedback on the new website and the sooner I get it, the more likely it is that I can get one out sooner rather than later.

As always, I welcome a bit of feedback about some of the things in this newsletter and suggestions for the next one.

Sending the newsletter

I'm now using a paid version of MailChimp to send all of the newsletters. I'm not sure what I'll do if the list goes over 2500.

walkabout@bushwalkingholidays.com.au is the contact address on our website. If you would like to continue to receive these newsletters, please include this address in your "friends list" so that it isn't blocked.

Emails sent to walkabout@bushwalkingholidays.com.au are currently automatically forwarded to rrwillis at internode.on.net. If you want to send an email to that address, replace the word "at" with the symbol @. I am trying not to put that address any place where it can be harvested by spam bots.

We don't want to add to the mass of email spam. If you don't want our newsletter, please send us an email and let us know. We'll then delete your name from our newsletter list.

Our email address is walkabout@bushwalkingholidays.com.au.

Note. Both MailChimp and the other program we use to send some of these newsletters have an automatic delete at the bottom. Clicking that link will delete you from the mailing list on the server but it will not delete you from our main database. One of the programs will not allow the auto delete to send me an email notifying me that a deletion has been made. If you want to be sure that you are removed from all further mailings, please send an email to walkabout@bushwalkingholidays.com.au

If you know someone you think would enjoy this newsletter, please forward it to them. The more people who get it, the more likely it is that I'll be able to run the trips which might interest you.

It's great to be going bush again.
Russell Willis

Return to top